Nokia launches trio of budget Asha handsets

Nokia has launched three new Asha mobile phones at its industry event, with the 500, 502 and 503 making their debuts.

The entry-level devices are aimed at adding a degree of affordability to smartphones, with the Finnish firm looking to market the range to emerging markets around the world.

As these are budget devices, only the Asha 503 offers 3G access, while the 502 and 503 offer users a five-megapixel camera, as well as a new camera interface.

UK prices for the range of phones are still to be announced, but Nokia confirmed that the 500 will start at $69 in single and dual-SIM versions.

The Lumia 1520 phablet was also launched at the event, featuring a 1080p six-inch screen. It appeared early on Nokia's store within the Chinese website Tmail, which confirmed the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and the 20-megapixel PureView camera.

A Lumia 1320 smartphone was also announced, as well as a Lumia 2520 tablet.